Iron golems are large, strong neutral utility mobs that defend players and villagers.
Spawning
Villages
In Java Edition, villagers can summon iron golems, either when they are gossiping or panicking. When a villager tries to summon a golem, up to 10 attempts are made to spawn a golem within a 16x13x16 box centered on the block the villager is standing on (block position +7/-8 blocks along x/z axes and +6/-6 blocks along y axis). A random y column is picked and then the topmost block in that column is selected that is air, water, or lava, and has a "solid-blocking" block underneath, or block at y=+6 if none such is available in that column is selected. The target location is then checked whether the block underneath has a solid top surface (which is not the same as "solid-blocking"). The target block and 2 blocks above must not be a full block, be redstone-powered nor be rails, and the two blocks above must not be water. This means the iron golem can spawn inside 1-deep water or inside blocks like halfslabs, fences, and carpets (if other checks pass). Adjacent blocks are irrelevant, so golems can even spawn partially inside adjacent solid blocks resulting in their own suffocation and death.[1] However, the spawning iron golem still must not collide with any existing entities.
In Bedrock Edition, an iron golem can spawn naturally when a village first generates in the world. Iron golems also spawn in villages having at least 20 beds and 10 villagers, in a 16×6×16 volume around the village center defined by a bed, a bell, or another meeting point. In order for a village to spawn iron golems, 75% of the villagers in the village must have worked in the past day, 100% of the villagers must be linked to a bed, and a player must be within 80 blocks of the village horizontally and within 44 blocks vertically. The chance of spawning is 1⁄700 per game tick, which averages to one every 35 seconds. Iron golems can spawn provided the 2 x 4 x 2 space above the spawn point (that is, horizontally centered on the NW corner of the block it spawns on) contains only non-solid blocks, and the block it spawns on is solid.
Creation
Iron golems are created by placing four iron blocks in a T shape (as shown in the image), and then placing a carved pumpkin, jack o'lantern or pumpkin[BE only] on top of the center upper block. The pumpkin may be placed by the player, a dispenser or an enderman, but it must be placed last. It needs space around it to be able to spawn and cannot spawn in a confined area. Alternatively, the blocks can be placed in any order with an uncarved pumpkin; the player can shear the pumpkin to spawn the golem. When successfully transformed, it is naturally passive toward the player who created it, attacking other players or mobs that try to attack the player who created it. It can also attack the player’s tamed wolves, if punched accidentally, but it never directly attacks the player.
The block arrangement can be placed upright, lying down, or upside-down. The four empty spaces in the diagram (above and below each of the arms) must be air blocks. Any non-air block (including blocks such as snow layers, tall grass, and water) present in any of the empty spaces prevent the golem from spawning.
Like other constructed mobs, iron golems always spawn facing south. Their large size may cause them to take suffocation damage from nearby solid blocks at the level of their head.
Pillager outposts
An iron golem found within one of the cages surrounding an outpost.
Iron golems can also be found surrounding pillager outposts, trapped inside of dark oak cages. When freed, they can help the player by attacking any nearby pillagers.
Drops
Iron golems drop when they die:
- 3–5 Iron ingots
- 0–2 poppies
The Looting enchantment is ineffective against iron golems as it does not give any extra iron ingots or poppies when killed.
Behavior
An iron golem offering a poppy.
Iron golems wander around a village in a patrol-like fashion, staying close to the edges of buildings and other structures. Like villagers, iron golems do not wander away from a village, regardless of how they were spawned. An iron golem sometimes faces a villager as if they are speaking to each other. Iron golems are able to spawn poppies in their hands and offer them to villagers, symbolizing the friendly relationship between the villagers and golems. This may be an Easter egg, as they share some design elements with the garden robots in "Castle in the Sky".
If not within a village, iron golems slowly wander around, usually making their way to a nearby village.
Iron golems can walk up a full block height without jumping and walk over a 1 block wide hole without falling in. They avoid water, lava, fire and cacti. Iron golems are immune to both drowning and fall damage. When in water, they sink, but can still move freely when in and underwater.
In Java Edition, when they're at 3/4 of full health, iron golems start to crack. An iron golem can be healed when the player right-clicks the chest of the iron golem with an iron ingot.
Like all utility mobs, iron golems can be leashed. Iron golems are faster in Bedrock Edition.
Attacking
Iron golems are aggressive to most hostile or neutral mobs (list below) within 16 blocks of them, although they are not effective on flying mobs (ender dragon, wither, phantom, ghast) that don't venture into the iron golem's reach. If a player has -15 popularity or less, any village naturally-spawned iron golems will become forever hostile to that player. Naturally, they retaliate when attacked by a mob. Iron golem built by a player never attacks them. Although they are guardians of villages, iron golems aren't actually provoked when a villager nearby is attacked.
When attacking, an iron golem moves quickly toward its target and swing its arms up violently to attack, dealing 7![]()
![]()
![]()
to 21
× 10.5 damage and flinging the target into the air. Iron golems have a comparatively large attack range, allowing them to attack through a solid 1 block thick wall, even without a line of sight to the target.
It is possible for multiple golems to simultaneously hit the same target. The height to which the victim is sent flying is relative to the number of golems that attack it.
The list below is complete. It contains players, and all undead mobs, neutral mobs, hostile mobs, and boss mobs. The remaining mobs (which are passive) are excluded. All passive mobs the iron golem attacks (which are unarmed pillagers, baby piglins, and in some cases, snow golems) are included in this list.
| Mob | Iron golem attacks the mob on sight? | Attacks the iron golem on sight? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bee | No | No | |
| Blaze | Yes | Partial | They attack only if an iron golem attacks one blaze. |
| Chicken Jockey | Yes | Partial |
A baby zombie riding a chicken attacks iron golems. |
| Creeper | No | No | Creepers explode by a flint and steel or a by player and they become damaged. Iron golems don't attack creepers, however, a nearby creeper explosion can still damage the golem. |
| Dolphin | No | No | |
| Drowned | Yes | Yes | |
| Ender Dragon | Partial | Partial | When in near vicinity, iron golems try to attack the ender dragon, although they are rarely able to. |
| Enderman | Yes | Partial | Endermen attacked by the iron golem retaliate, following their normal neutral behavior. |
| Endermite | Yes | No | |
| Giant [unused mob] [Java Edition only] | Yes | No | |
| Ghast | Partial | No | Iron golems almost never attack ghasts, but if close, and the ghast is not moving too much, the golem can attack ghasts. However, iron golems do not try to go toward any ghast outside of its range nor seek it in any way. |
| Guardian Elder guardian |
Yes | No | |
| Hoglin | Yes[Java Edition only] No[Bedrock Edition only] |
Partial[Java Edition only] No[Bedrock Edition only] |
They attack only if an iron golem attacks one hoglin.[Java Edition only]. Iron golems don't attack hoglins in Bedrock Edition. |
| Iron Golem | No | No | |
| Llama Trader Llama | Partial | Partial | Iron golems only attack llamas/trader llamas if the latter hits them accidentally with spit. |
| Magma Cube | Yes | Partial | Attacks big, medium, and small-sized magma cubes. Big and medium-sized magma cubes attack iron golems, but small-sized magma cubes are unable to deal any damage to iron golems. in Bedrock Edition, magma cubes completely ignore iron golems, but the golem still kills them. |
| Panda | No | No | |
| Polar Bear | No | No | |
| Phantom | Yes | No | |
| Piglin | Yes | Partial | They attack only if an iron golem attacks one piglin or piglin brute. Iron golems attack baby piglins despite them being passive. |
| Piglin Brute | Yes | Partial | They attack only if an iron golem attacks one piglin, or piglin brute. |
| Player | Partial | N/A |
A naturally-spawned iron golem or commands-spawned iron golem attacks the player if the player attacks it while playing in the adventure and survival modes (it does not attack the player in creative or spectator mode). |
| Pufferfish | Partial | Partial | Iron golems only attack pufferfish if damaged by the pufferfish's defense. |
| Shulker | Yes | Partial | They attack only if an iron golem attacks one shulker. |
| Silverfish | Yes | Yes[Bedrock Edition only] Partial[Java Edition only] |
In Java Edition, they only attack if the iron golem attacks one silverfish. Silverfish always attack iron golems in Bedrock Edition. |
| Skeleton Stray Wither Skeleton |
Yes | Yes | |
| Skeleton HorseZombie Horse | No | No | |
| Slime | Yes | Partial | Slimes chase iron golems, but do not attack. |
| Snow golem | Partial | No | The iron golem retaliates when a snow golem accidentally hits it with a snowball. |
| Spider Cave Spider Spider Jockey | Yes | Yes | |
| Vex | Yes | Partial | It attacks the iron golem rarely when the vex is nearby by the iron golem. It attacks immediately when an evoker summons three vexes. |
| Evoker Illusioner[unused mob][Java Edition only] Pillager Ravager Vindicator | Yes | Yes | Iron golems attack unarmed pillagers, despite them being passive. |
| Witch | Yes | Yes[Bedrock Edition only] Partial[Java Edition only] |
Attack iron golems only if patrolling in an illager patrol or iron golem attacking one witch. The witch throws splash potions of Poison or Harming when an iron golem attacks the witch.[Java Edition only] Witches always attack iron golems in Bedrock Edition. |
| Wither | Yes | Yes | Iron golems always attack withers. |
| Wolf (untamed) | No | No | |
| Wolf (tamed) | Partial | Partial | Only if an iron golem attacks the player. |
| Zombie Husk Zombie Villager | Yes | Yes | |
| Zombified Piglin | Yes | Partial | They attack only if an iron golem attacks one zombified piglin. |
| Zoglin | Yes[Java Edition only] Partial[Bedrock Edition only] |
Yes | Iron golems only attack zoglins if the zoglin attacks the golem first.[Bedrock Edition only] Iron golems always attack zoglins in Java Edition. |
A naturally-spawned iron golem knows where raiding illager locations are from behind solid walls and from underground and attempts to move toward them. An iron golem created by the player or summoned by a command cannot detect raiders through obstructions.
Being attacked
Zombies (and variants), zoglins, skeletons (and variants), spiders, cave spiders, slimes, magma cubes and illagers naturally attack iron golems on sight and may cause major damage, especially if the mobs attack in groups. If an iron golem is attacked by multiple mobs, it retaliates in the order it was attacked. In Bedrock Edition, silverfish and witches may naturally attack it too. If a player has -15 village popularity or less, any naturally spawned iron golems always attacks the player on sight.
Iron golems have 100% knockback resistance. However, they can be knocked back by the Knockback enchantment on swords and the Punch enchantment on bows.
However, in Bedrock Edition, knockback seems to have no effect on iron golems.
Cracking
Iron golems have different stages of being cracked to show their health. When their health is above 74
× 37, some cracks are visible. When their health is between 50
× 25 and 74
× 37, a few more cracks appear. When their health is between 25
× 12.5 and 49
× 24.5, they appear more cracked. When their health is lower than 25
× 12.5, many cracks are visible.
Healing
In Java Edition, using an iron ingot on an iron golem restores its health by 25%.[2]
Preferred path
Like villagers, iron golems in Bedrock Edition use a strategy of pathfinding that prioritizes walking on certain "low-cost" blocks.
Sounds
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Footsteps | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Iron Golem breaks | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity | subtitles | 0.8 | 0.8 / 1.0 | 16 | |
| Iron Golem dies | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Iron Golem hurts | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Iron Golem repaired | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Iron Golem attacks | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Golem | iron_golem | entity.minecraft.iron_golem |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Golem | iron_golem | 20 | entity.iron_golem.name |
Entity data
Iron golems have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.
- Entity data
- Additional fields for mobs that can become angry
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- PlayerCreated: 1 or 0 (true/false) - if true, this golem is player-created and never attacks players.
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Body Guard | Create an Iron Golem | — | 20G | Bronze | ||
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Hired Help | Summon an Iron Golem to help defend a village | What a Deal! | Summon an iron golem. | adventure/summon_iron_golem
|
History
The specific instructions are: Texture change from 19w08a.
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.2.1 | 12w08a | File:Iron Golem Revision 1.png Added iron golems. | |||
| One iron golem may spawn in a village for every 16 villagers. | |||||
| 1.2-pre | Mechanical and stomping sounds have been added for the iron golem. | ||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w32a | Iron golems now attack slimes and magma cubes. | |||
| ? | One iron golem can now spawn for every 10 villagers in a village. | ||||
| 1.7.2 | 13w36a | Because roses have been replaced with poppies, the iron golem's drop has been changed. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w03a | Iron golems now drop only iron ingots when killed by the player, either through combat, potions, or player-activated mechanisms such as manually lit TNT. If killed without player intervention, they now drop only poppies. | |||
| 14w04a | The previous change has been reverted; iron golems always drop iron ingots again. | ||||
| Iron golems can now be spawned by dispensing a pumpkin. | |||||
| 14w25a | Iron golems can now be built sideways and upside-down instead of just upright. | ||||
| 14w26c | Jack o'lanterns can no longer be used to build iron golems. | ||||
| 14w33a | Zombies, skeletons, creepers, spiders, cave spiders, slimes, magma cubes and blazes now attack iron golems, without provocation. | ||||
| 1.8.1 | pre1 | Jack o'lanterns can now be used to build iron golems again. | |||
| Creepers no longer attack iron golems. | |||||
| 1.9 | 15w39a | Iron golems are now slightly shorter (2.7 blocks tall rather than 2.9). | |||
| 15w46a | Iron golems now spawn with 100% knockback resistance. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The entity ID of the iron golem has been changed from VillagerGolem to villager_golem. | |||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Iron golems can now also use a carved pumpkin to be created. | |||
| pre5 | The entity ID of the iron golem has been changed from villager_golem to iron_golem. | ||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||
| 18w47a | Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts. | ||||
| 19w08a | A single iron golem now always spawn as part of a village. | ||||
| 1.14.3 | pre1 | Panicking villagers now have a higher chance of spawning iron golems. | |||
| 1.15 | 19w41a | ||||
| Iron golems can now be healed with iron ingots. | |||||
| 19w44a | Iron golem's damage progress is now based on the ratio of current health to max health. | ||||
| 1.16 | 20w19a | Villagers can now spawn iron golems regardless of their profession status or latest working time. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | File:Iron Golem Revision 1.png Added iron golems. | |||
| 0.16.0 | build 4 | Iron golems now damage players in peaceful difficulty. | |||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | ? | Iron golems no longer attack players in peaceful difficulty. | |||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | The entity ID of the iron golem has been changed from irongolem to iron_golem. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ||||
| Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts. | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | A single iron golem now always spawns as part of a village. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU12 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | File:Iron Golem Revision 1.png Added iron golems. |
| 1.90 | |||||
| 1.91 | Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts. | ||||
| A single iron golem now always spawn as part of a village. | |||||
| Panicking villagers now have a higher chance of spawning iron golems. | |||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | File:Iron Golem Revision 1.png Added iron golems. | ||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Iron Golem" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia
Robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky
- The iron golem's holding out flowers to villagers is a reference to the ancient robots in Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Laputa: Castle in the Sky.[3] When villager children notice the poppy in its hand, they slowly approach, and take the flower eventually. Iron golems do not actually pick up poppies; they spawn them in their hands.
- Tamed wolves continue to attack iron golems even after the iron golems have turned passive toward the player (which also causes them to fight back as well).
- If a player throws an ender pearl at an iron golem that has spawned in a village, it becomes hostile.
- Even if it has a poppy in its hands, the iron golem can still hit a hostile mob.
- If an iron golem is in a boat, no other entities except for a player can ride as a passenger or control the boat.
- According to the illustrations in Mobestiary, the iron golem may, in fact, be a machine, following its original inspiration.
Publicity
- The iron golem is a purchasable avatar item on the Xbox 360 Marketplace.
Gallery
An iron golem attacking a spider by throwing it into the air.
An iron golem attacking the player.
- IronGolemVillageBoundaries.png
Spawn boundaries of the village, in case of a single house. If an iron golem exits these boundaries, it detaches from the village and a new one can spawn.
References
- ↑ MC-148955
- ↑ MCPE-59568
- ↑ "@scambot Yes, thanks to @pgeuder who sent me inspirational pictures!" – @jonkagstrom (Jon Kågström) on X, February 23, 2012





